EPBOT Readers discussion

Posting early as I'm going to be on the go tomorrow and hate posting from the phone.

This week I finished:

Legendary - this was fun, i think I liked it better than Caraval. On hold for Finale, hopefully comes in soon.

Beautiful Music- this is my books & brew pick. It was just ok for me. Honestly, I find that teen white male coming of age stories feel super repetitive to me. Always seems like there's the shy kid, typical parent conflicts, the one friend who gets them into trouble etc. Was nice to have something set in Detroit that was written by someone who lived there, rather than randomly selecting it with no real research. I think based on the description I expected more race discussions rather than the kid just kind of floating along thinking "well maybe black people aren't SO bad?" I wanted something more along the lines of Hairspray.

Currently reading: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet - really loving this, I kinda wish they'd make a show of it for SYFY. With Dark Matter, Expanse, and Killjoys all over, there needs to be a new zany space faring crew show, and this one has the benefits of aliens on the crew, not just a cheeky AI.

QOTW:

Kinda stumped on questions right now, anyone have any ideas?

Anyone have any fun spooky plans? Seeing a haunted puppet show this weekend, I want to check out Evil Dead the musical next weekend. Plus a bonfire, and a two weekend halloween party/concert the last weekend :D Spooky!

Feels good to be reading again after having to minimize it for a few weeks- I'm realizing more and more that a good, long, regular escape into a book is my version of self-care.

Part way through Stan Lee's new posthumous novel A Trick of Light. It's not often that someone can take a well-trod sci-fi trope and really surprise me in how it unfolds. Ahhh, dear, dear Stan! So far it's a fresh take on the concept, with characters who have so far managed to stay surprisingly relatable and grounded in reality despite The Plot. I'm really enjoying it, and am fervently hoping that it doesn't lose is momentum in the second half. The fact that I've managed to completely forget that it's written in present tense (which is one of my major book pet peeves) is possibly the best indication that it's got me hooked!

QotW: Hubs and I really don't do much with Halloween, so there's nothing intentionally spooky on my agenda. I think the scariest thing we've done so far has been getting all of our Disney fastpasses dealt with when they opened up at 3am our time. Technically there were zombies involved the next morning at work, and blood was almost spilled, so it totally qualifies, right?

As I know our mods are super busy with life stuff right now, would I be stepping on toes if I got a discussion rolling to choose our next group read?

You can go right ahead! I know Stephanie had just been swamped with work this year, I think we’re going to have to just call it good in Onyx and Ivory. I kept meaning to start something up for the next but I’ve been out of it too.

I know I just posted in last week's thread, but I have to do it when I see it or I'll miss it! :)

I finished Enchantee, which was a hot mess. There were good concepts buried in there, but the story was all over the place and the characters were generic. It was a bummer, because I had really been looking forward to that one!

I'm now reading The Invention of Wings for IRL Book Club #1. It's not terribly written, but I think I've had enough of white people's hot takes on slavery for one lifetime. I say this with love (and I'm white) - IT'S NOT ABOUT US. I was a history major in college and read plenty of the actual Grimke sisters' writing, which certainly has its place - but this is not the book they would have wanted to read about themselves, and the false equivalence implied by the alternating chapters is particularly galling. Obviously I'm going to finish, since it's for book club - but does anyone have any recommendations of fiction set in the 19th century by "own voices" writers? I'm generally picky about historical fiction, but that era seems to be of great interest to this book club, and I'd like to recommend something well-written but less cringey.

With that TED Talk now completed, I will move on to the happier subject of Halloween. It's my favorite holiday, and we always hit the seasonal events at Franklin Park Conservatory, the Ohio Village, the Columbus Zoo, etc. We'll probably get up to Greenfield Village for their Halloween thing again, too - do you ever go to that, Sheri? I think you live up that way....

And thank you, Sarah for bringing up the next group read - I was wondering when that was happening, but didn't want to say anything since I check in relatively infrequently and thought I might have missed something!

Megan, I haven’t checked it out, but I’m aware of it. Have you been before? I wasn’t sure how family oriented it was, like if you didn’t have kids is there enough reason to go? I mean I like Greenfield in general, but specifically for going to the special event

Are you near Colombus? My mom n laws chest moved to the suburbs there, probably will be visiting that area more!

No new finishes for me this week. I'm still plugging away on Gideon the Ninth, which I'm enjoying so far, but the beginning was a little slow. The worldbuilding on this one is really out there: it's an odd mix of sci-fi and fantasy. They have spaceships and a multi-planet empire, but also fight with swords and use magic. The level of technology that exists in this world feels kind of uneven, so it almost feels post-apocalyptic. Still, I think the story is about to pick up some, so I'm excited to finish.

Sheri - I agree with you completely about The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. I would love to see a TV show or, probably more likely, a miniseries in the vein of the recent Good Omens series. Someone needs to make this happen.

We're not really much for spooky plans, TBH. I like Halloween, but I don't like horror or scares, TBH. I'm much more into creepy atmosphere vs. actually scary, if that makes any sense.

Probably going to do some autumn cooking/baking soon, at least: lots of soups now that it's cooler here, plus pumpkin bread!

Sheri, we don’t have kids and we love it! Honestly, I think it’s much more for adults and older kids, since a lot of things are too spooky for the really little ones (we’ve seen plenty of meltdowns/freakouts from little people there). It’s not like haunted house/horror movie type stuff, but a few jump scares and lots of creepy ambience. So I highly recommend it, especially if you’re close enough to go on a less busy (ie not Friday or Saturday) night.

And yes, I’m in Columbus - so if you’re ever in the area and need a break from the in laws, it would be lovely to meet you!